EP2001284B1 - Conveyor control with force sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a conveyor arrangement for impact-sensitive products, in particular eggs, comprising a conveyor device for conveying the products, a temporary storage area configured to accommodate the products that have to be temporarily stored after a discontinuous supply or discharge, a control device for increasing the discharge and/or for reducing the supply of products in the temporary storage area of the conveyor device when a predetermined critical number of products in said area is exceeded. The invention is characterized in that a force measuring device is provided, which is configured and arranged in such a way that a force resulting from the products present in the temporary storage area can be detected, said force representing a measure for the number of products present in the temporary storage area. Furthermore, the control device is configured such that it can process the force detected by the force measuring device as an input variable, thereby increasing or reducing the discharge and/or supply of products from/to the temporary storage area in accordance with the value of the force.

Description

The invention relates to a conveyor arrangement according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such conveyor arrangements are used, for example, for transporting eggs from a laying area and feeding them to a packing station. In particular, conveyor assemblies are used which include a cross conveyor which conveys products to a processing station and a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts arranged to convey products from different spaced-apart locations onto the cross conveyor. The longitudinal conveyor belts extend along a row of cows or aviaries and are usually provided individually for each floor. The cross conveyor belts are typically arranged at right angles to the parallel Longitudinal conveyor belts mounted and take the transported by the longitudinal conveyor belts from the laying areas on eggs.

A first problem that arises with such conveyor arrangements is that, by the time-prolonged feeding of the eggs on the longitudinal conveyor belts, the feeding of the eggs across the cross conveyor to the processing station is discontinuous, and in particular insufficient, to the processing capacity of the processing station utilize. To avoid this, it is known to activate several longitudinal conveyor belts at the same time in order to supply the cross conveyor belt with a sufficient amount of eggs. A problem with this approach, however, is that the cross conveyor belt can not be utilized evenly through the spaced-apart junction of the longitudinal conveyor belts and local transgressions of cross conveyor belt capacities occur, which regularly leads to damage to the eggs.

Another problem with conveyor arrangements of this type is that only small delivery rates of the eggs are realized at the beginning of the conveying process and the end of the conveying process, as due to start of the first longitudinal conveyor belt and outlet of the last longitudinal conveyor is too low delivery to the cross conveyor. This prolongs the processing time at the processing station, which is disadvantageous for cost reasons.

Especially in larger cowsheds, it is often desirable to collect the eggs from certain locations in groups, for example because a different feed is administered in certain houses than in other houses, and the eggs thus produced should be fed as a contiguous block to the processing station for processing together to be packed, for example. In just such cases, where the egg collection process takes place with, for example, up to 15 different groups in succession, however, a continuous utilization of the processing capacity of the processing station with the previously known measures to turn on different longitudinal conveyor belts simultaneously, not reachable, so that in such applications significantly longer operating times of Processing station and Consequently, longer collection times and higher operating costs must be accepted.

Another problem with such funding arrangements arises in particular by the animal-friendly aviary of laying hens. In the aviary, the animals are offered a nest in which the animals prefer to lay their eggs. From the nest the eggs roll on the longitudinal conveyor belt. Due to the locally concentrated accumulation of laid eggs, however, the nest area overfills the longitudinal conveyor belt, which can lead to damage to the eggs. While it comes in caging to a distribution of laid eggs across the entire cage width and thus a single activation of the longitudinal conveyor on the day was sufficient to collect the eggs laid, it is necessary in the aviary, the collection process several times a day due to the local overfilling of the longitudinal conveyor belts ,

Yet another problem with such conveyor arrangements is that congestion may arise due to stagnation or processing problems in front of or in the processing station and thereby high forces may act on the eggs. It is known to provide a counteracted by the Eiansammlung limit switch to avoid this problem, which shuts off the cross conveyor belt when an impermissibly high force. However, this leads, in particular from the point of view of exploiting the full capacity of the processing station and consequently, a certain jam in front of the processing station as a buffer, to very frequent switching on and off of the cross conveyor, resulting in increased wear and premature failure can cause.

Finally, another problem of known conveying devices is that when products are conveyed from several conveyor belts to a common collecting conveyor, damage to the products often occurs when the additionally added products first have to displace the products already on the collecting conveyor and inadmissibly high forces between the products Act. It is known to avoid such damage to the movement of the collecting conveyor stationary provide fastened Produktleiteinrichtungen which direct the already located on the collection conveyor products in front of the confluence areas of other products so that they are led away from the junction area and thus space for the additionally added products is created. These product guiding devices must be regularly placed and adjusted differently, in particular in the case of changing feed conditions, whether by feeding from different feed belts or changing delivery quotas, which makes their handling more difficult.

Out FR 7623628 a device for transferring eggs to a sorting device is known. The sorting device comprises a conveyor belt, which is supported on one side on a weight-loaded lever and decreases with increasing load against this weight force to actuate an electrical switch.

Out US 3,738,077 a weighing device for a divided amount is known, which comprises a trained as a scale conveyor belt.

The invention has for its object to provide a conveyor assembly which avoids one and preferably more of the aforementioned problems.

This is achieved according to the invention by a conveyor arrangement according to claim 1.

The invention makes it possible to achieve a differentiated control of the discharging or feeding conveyors depending on the force responsible for the damage of the products. In this way, the desired replenishment of the temporary storage area, for example, to feed a processing station or to receive products from a production area, can be targeted and thus filling without frequent starting and stopping of the conveyor can be achieved.

It is particularly preferred when the control device is designed to the conveyor device with a first and a second conveying speed to drive, wherein the second speed is higher than the first speed. In this way, depending on the force measurement value, a corresponding speed can be selected in order to increase or decrease the number of products in the buffer area. Thus, when the detected force decreases, the second speed can be selected, and as the detected force increases, the first speed can be selected. Furthermore, the first and second speed can be set when falling below or exceeding predetermined force limit values.

In particular, it is preferred if the control device is designed to adjust the conveying device preferably continuously as a function of the force detected by the force-measuring device. The continuous control of the conveyor allows a very precise control of the number of products in the temporary storage area or the force occurring there between the products.

According to the invention, the control device is designed to reduce the supply of the products to the intermediate storage area and / or to increase the removal from the intermediate storage area when a predetermined force value is exceeded. In this way, a simple and reliable control or regulation of the product promotion is achieved.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the force measuring device is arranged below the products in the intermediate storage area in order to measure in the vertical direction and to detect the summed weight of the products in the intermediate storage area. This training is particularly suitable for use in the area of a nest in aviary housing. The force measuring device can be arranged so that it measures the weight of the eggs located on the longitudinal strip in the nest and eggs is exceeded when a predetermined weight force promotion of the longitudinal conveyor belt is caused to avoid damming the eggs.

It is particularly preferred if the force measuring device is coupled to a horizontally arranged weighing plate, which is arranged below a conveyor belt on which the products are arranged in the intermediate storage area. Thus, the weighing of all products in the buffer area is achieved in a reliable and structurally robust way.

In particular, it is preferred if the control device is designed to control the conveyor device from a standstill when exceeding a predetermined summed weight of the products in the temporary storage area so that the products are further promoted so far that all products are conveyed from the temporary storage area. Thus, depending on the products located in the intermediate storage area promotion, partially or completely causes and congestion can be avoided.

It is particularly preferred if the conveyor device comprises a conveyor belt, on which the intermediate storage area extends by a certain length, and the control device is designed so that the conveyor belt is conveyed on exceeding a predetermined summed weight of the products in the temporary storage area by exactly the length of the intermediate storage becomes. In this training, the conveyor belt is only preferred to full extent of the temporary storage area so that the subsequent filling of the conveyor belt takes place in an immediately adjacent to the previously filled area area and achieved in this way gradually complete filling of the longitudinal conveyor belt over a large area ,

According to the invention, the conveyor arrangement is developed in such a way that a plurality of spaced-apart storage areas are arranged along the conveyor belt and the control device is designed such that the conveyor belt is further conveyed by the length of the intermediate storage when the predetermined summed weight force of the products is exceeded for the first time in a temporary storage area Exceeding a predetermined summed weight of the products in the buffer area is again conveyed by the length of the buffer, this process gfs repeated until a predetermined repetition number, in which a product occupied section of the conveyor belt would be conveyed in a neighboring buffer storage area and instead the conveyor belt is driven until the products from the conveyor belt are conveyed to a second conveyor or in a storage space.

In this embodiment takes place when using the conveyor assembly as a longitudinal conveyor a multiple feed of the longitudinal conveyor belt to a discrete feed path, which corresponds to the length of the intermediate storage area. Thus, temporally successive adjacent areas are filled on the longitudinal conveyor belt. Since usually several nest areas are arranged along the longitudinal conveyor belt, after a certain number of such discrete feeds a filled from an adjacent nest area longitudinal conveyor belt section would be promoted in the nest area of a neighboring aviary and in this case there would be a risk that an impoundment of the eggs takes place, as no free longitudinal conveyor belt area is more available. Therefore, at such time as the longitudinal conveyor belt is typically completely filled, a sustained activation of the longitudinal conveyor belt is induced to convey the eggs into a storage space such as a cross conveyor belt.

The conveyor assembly may be further developed by having a plurality of conveyor belts each having at least one staging area, wherein at least one staging area comprises a force sensor for measuring the weight of the products in that staging area and the control device is configured to accumulate all conveyor belts when exceeding a predetermined one Weight of the products in this buffer area by the length of the buffer is further promoted. This arrangement is particularly suitable for several stables and based on the knowledge that typically each aviary has a similar laying performance, so that it is sufficient if only in the area of the nest Aviary the laid eggs are weighed and then exceeding a certain value in this area then all conveyor belts are preferred. This arrangement can be further developed by arranging a plurality of conveyor belts each having at least one intermediate storage area, at least a plurality of intermediate storage areas comprising a force sensor for measuring the weight of the products in this intermediate storage area and the control device is designed such that all conveyor belts are conveyed by the length of the intermediate storage if the weight force of the products in a buffer area with force sensor or the average value of the weight force of the products in all buffer areas with force sensor exceeds a predetermined weight of the products. In this embodiment, a greater security against irregularities in the laying performance is achieved by measuring the laid eggs of several aviaries and then, depending on these measured values, all longitudinal conveyor belts are brought forward.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the conveyor arrangement according to the invention, the force measuring device is coupled to a movable wall section in order to detect the horizontal surface pressure exerted by the products on the movable wall section as a compressive force on the movable section. This training is particularly suitable to monitor in the area in front of a packing station promoted by the cross conveyor belt eggs and to avoid damage to these eggs when congestion occur in the packing station. The detection of a differentiated compressive force allows a precise control of egg feeding and avoids damage or a frequently repeated stop and start operation of the cross conveyor.

In this case, it is particularly preferred if the force-measuring device is coupled to a movable wall section in order to detect the horizontal surface pressure exerted by the products on the movable wall section as a compressive force on the movable section. With this training, a precise measurement of the pressure force is achieved and thus generates a reliable input for the control or regulation. It can alternatively several Force measuring devices, each with a movable wall portion may be provided, which may for example lie laterally and opposite to the conveyed products or may be arranged as a measuring island in the product flow.

The horizontal measuring force sensor embodiments can be further developed in that the movable wall section has a first wall surface region which faces the intermediate storage region opposite to the feed device and has a second wall surface region which is parallel to the feed device. It has been found that the provision of such two wall surface areas a favorable for the determination of the actual product load detection of the conveying force in the conveying direction and the force generated thereby is achieved transversely to the conveying direction, which is directly related to the risk of product damage input for the Represents regulation or control.

In this case, the movable wall section may in particular have a semicircular shape. Thus, a preferred solution is a semi-circular wall section which is pivotally mounted at one end and spaced from this bearing is coupled to the force sensor and transmits a force to the sensor.

To avoid the disadvantages of known conveying arrangements described above, an unclaimed conveying arrangement may comprise: a conveying device for conveying the products, a temporary storage area which is designed to temporarily store products which are temporarily to be temporarily stored due to discontinuous supply or removal, a control device for increasing the removal and / or for reducing the supply of products to the buffer area of the conveyor when a predetermined critical number of products in the buffer area is exceeded, wherein in the buffer area a measuring device is arranged, which is designed and arranged to detect the number of products in the intermediate storage area , which is a measure of the horizontal force between the products in the buffer area, and the control device is designed to compensate for the the number of times the meter has been detected as an input variable and, as a function thereof, to increase or decrease the removal and / or supply of the products from / to the temporary storage area.

This variant represents an alternative to the direct measurement of the force in the intermediate storage area and is based on the knowledge that the products accumulated in the intermediate storage area tend to stand up or be arranged one above the other in the intermediate storage area when a certain horizontal contact pressure is exceeded. The number of products protruding above the products lying flat on the area of the staging area, whether by placement or by support on an underlying product, is a measure of the horizontal forces between the products in the staging area and can therefore be used as input for the control device can be used. This conveyor arrangement is particularly suitable for conveying eggs, which typically tend at elevated discharge pressure to position themselves and thereby give a reliable indication in the form of several standing on their crests eggs when a predetermined critical horizontal force has been exceeded.

The conveyor assembly can be used in the same way as before to make a continuous transverse belt control, which can be controlled in dependence on the number of established products in the buffer area in a closed loop.

The measuring device can be formed, for example, in the form of a plurality of light barriers, which measure horizontally over the flat products in the intermediate storage area, wherein it is preferred to use intersecting light paths in order to ensure planar coverage and detection.

It is further preferred if the buffer area is arranged in the transfer area between a first, feeding and a second, discharging conveying device and the control device is designed so that when a predetermined compressive force between the products is exceeded or number of established products in the temporary storage area, the delivery rate of the feeding conveyor device is reduced and / or the delivery rate of the discharge conveyor is increased.

The predetermined pressure force or number of products standing up is chosen, for example, as a function of the pressure sensitivity of the conveyed products and can be kept in tabular form for typical conveyed products in a memory of the control device or entered via an operating unit by the user of the conveyor arrangement.

It is further preferred if the delivery rate of the conveyor device (s) is changeable by a preferably stepless change of the conveyor speed. By a continuous change of the conveying speed, for example by means of frequency converters and electric drive motors for conveyor belts or bar belt conveyor, a particularly precise control of the conveyors can be achieved in a closed loop and thus on the one hand damage to the products reliably avoided and on the other hand ensures permanent availability of the products in the buffer area become.

Furthermore, the conveyor assembly may comprise: a cross conveyor which conveys products to a processing station and a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts arranged to convey products to the cross conveyor at various spaced apart locations, the conveyor assembly being characterized by a conveyor advancement detection means Transverse conveyor belts and a control device coupled to this device, which is designed to initiate the longitudinal conveyor belts in response to the distance between their junction on the cross conveyor belt and the processing station and in dependence on the conveying progress of the cross conveyor belt at the beginning of a conveying operation of the conveyor assembly is delayed ,

Such conveyor arrangements are used, for example, to collect the products from production units which are distributed over a large area and to promote a common processing station. For this purpose, a plurality of parallel arranged and mutually offset longitudinal conveyor belts are typically provided, which meet at spaced points on a common cross conveyor belt and which promote the products on the cross conveyor belt. A particular problem with such conveyor arrangements is that discontinuous operation of the longitudinal conveyor belts also results in discontinuous feeding of the products to the processing station and, due to the spatial arrangement, also makes it impossible to utilize the capacity of the processing station and the conveyor capacity of the transverse conveyor belt, which is typically matched to this capacity is. This drawback is remedied by the abovementioned aspect of the invention by detecting the conveying progress of the transverse conveyor belt, for example by means of a timer, and by using a control device which regulates the discontinuous activation of the longitudinal conveyor belts from the conveying progress and the arrangement of the junction of the longitudinal conveyor belts with the transverse conveyor belt. This regulation can consist on the one hand in an activation of the longitudinal conveyor belts (binary control) or in a regulation of the conveying speed of the longitudinal conveyor belts. Typically, in this way, a time-delayed control of the longitudinal conveyor belts can be carried out in such a way that the products are conveyed in a closed front and taking advantage of the capacity of the cross conveyor belt and consequently also the capacity of the processing station is fully utilized and, in addition, can be diminished as products are reduced from a single longitudinal conveyor the other or another longitudinal conveyor belt raised in the promotion to compensate for this and initiate the compensation spatially resolved in the cross conveyor at the point at which the deficit has occurred. The regulation of the conveyor arrangement proposed in this way makes it possible for the first time to make full use of the capacity of the processing station in each operating state and to be able to include interruptions in the transverse conveyor belt and fluctuations in the conveying capacity of the longitudinal conveyor belts in the control and regulating operations.

In particular, this conveyor arrangement can be combined with counter devices for the products which are located at the points where the longitudinal conveyor belts meet the cross conveyor belt are arranged and detect the products conveyed from each individual longitudinal conveyor belt products and count. The precision of the control can be further increased by utilizing the count data thus determined.

It is particularly preferred to further develop the above-described conveyor assembly by forming the control device to first initiate a first longitudinal conveyor belt farthest from the processing station and to actuate a second conveyor belt located closer to the processing station at a point in time the transverse conveyor belt has progressed so far that the products conveyed by the first longitudinal conveyor belt have reached the junction area of the second longitudinal conveyor belt. With this training it is achieved that after a standstill of the system, in particular after complete emptying of the conveyor assembly, the cross conveyor is loaded in such a way from the plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts, that is avoided that over a longer cross conveyor belt section only isolated products are arranged, but instead a front of loaded products of full capacity of the processing station is formed on the cross conveyor belt and thereby a full utilization of the processing station can be adjusted at a predeterminable time. This is very advantageous, for example, in the application of the egg collection from several points in order to supply the locally spaced production points of the eggs in such a way a packing station that the packing station can be operated at full capacity at the beginning of work of the staff.

Furthermore, it is advantageous in the aforementioned conveying arrangements, if at least two groups of longitudinal conveyor belts are defined and the control device is designed to arrange the products of the longitudinal conveyor belts of a first group on the cross conveyor belt in front of the products of the longitudinal conveyor belts of a second group. Often it is desirable to operate conveyor arrangements in such a way that from certain areas, in particular a plurality of spaced-apart areas, the products are collected together and only after this collection process, the products of other, again a plurality of spaced-apart areas be collected. In this way, two or more groups of production areas can be defined, from which successive collections are made. Ensuring a permanent capacity utilization of the processing station is not achievable with such collection strategies with conveyor arrangements according to the prior art. With the conveyor arrangement according to the invention, it is now possible by the regulation of the longitudinal conveyor belts as a function of their Einmündungsorts and depending on the transverse belt progress to perform even such a group collection and in this case to achieve a permanent capacity utilization of the processing station. The procedure is the same, as in the common collection and processing of all production areas to supply the production areas of a group of such over the respective longitudinal conveyor belts to the cross conveyor that a closed front is formed in full processing station capacity and after complete collection of the group a next closed front the next group is formed immediately after the end of the previous group, etc

In this case, it is particularly preferred if the regulating device is designed to first actuate in each group the longitudinal conveyor belt which is farthest from the processing station. In this way, in turn, it is achieved that the groups achieve self-contained capacity utilization of the processing station and a longer overrun of the cross conveyor at low capacity utilization is avoided.

Furthermore, it is preferred if the control device is designed to actuate the longitudinal conveyor belts of the group with the longitudinal conveyor belt furthest away from the processing station as the last group. This has proven to be advantageous, since otherwise a utilization of the processing station disturbing, larger gap would occur on the cross conveyor, for example, when one of the front longitudinal conveyor belts is collected in a front group and then the last longitudinal conveyor belt is actuated, whereby the cross conveyor on a Length remains product free, the corresponds to the distance between the front and the last longitudinal conveyor belt. Alternatively, the longitudinal conveyor belt furthest away from the processing station could be activated in the last group, and this activation could take place a predetermined period of time prior to the completion of the activation of the last longitudinal conveyor belt of the previous group. In this case, the conveyor end of the previous group is calculated in advance and the furthest longitudinal conveyor belt is started in such a way that a gap between the two groups is avoided.

The group-wise collection can be further optimized by the control device is formed by the time of stopping the last longitudinal conveyor belt of a group and the activation of the first longitudinal conveyor a subsequent group depending on the distance between the junction of the last longitudinal conveyor belt and the first longitudinal conveyor belt on the cross conveyor and to determine the cross conveyor belt advance. With this training, it is possible that the control device between two groups a defined - positive or negative - distance by stopping and starting the corresponding longitudinal conveyor belts is controlled so that the groups selectively overlap or do not overlap or have a certain distance from each other.

It is particularly preferred if the control device is designed to stop the longitudinal conveyor belts and the cross conveyor belt when the last product of a group has been conveyed into the processing device. In this way, the control device creates the possibility of carrying out a conversion at the processing station in order to process products of different groups in different ways. In this case, the last product of a group or the first product of a following group can be used as a criterion to initiate the stop of the cross conveyor.

It is furthermore preferred if the control device is designed to determine the times such that the last products of the last longitudinal conveyor belt of the first group and the first products of the first longitudinal conveyor belt the second group are stored in a common mixing area on the cross conveyor belt. In this way, a mixing area is generated, for example, contain products of different quality levels and its processing thus, for example, must be accepted that products of a higher quality level are sorted into a packaging that is classified with a lower quality level. However, with this development, the advantage can be achieved that the capacity of the processing station is fully utilized without interruption and there is a smooth change between the products of the first and the second group. In this case, the mixing area in the processing station is treated as the group of low quality products and, accordingly, before or after the beginning of the mixing area, the processing mode at the processing station is changed depending on whether the products are group to group in quality worsen or improve. Finally, it is still preferable that in the group-wise collection, the control device is configured to determine the timings of starting and stopping the longitudinal conveyor belts of the successive groups such that a space is formed on the cross conveyor belt between the products of the first group and the second group , In this way, a period for the conversion of the processing station can be created without interrupting the conveying process.

The conveyor arrangement according to the invention can in particular be designed so that the control device is designed to activate as many longitudinal conveyor belts and / or to control the conveying speed of the activated longitudinal conveyor belts so that so many products are fed to each area of the cross conveyor belt that a predetermined capacity of the processing station is reached. In this way, a full capacity utilization of the processing station is achieved by activation and / or speed control of the longitudinal conveyor belts at any time.

Furthermore, it is preferred if the control device is designed to each activated longitudinal conveyor belt a fraction of the cross conveyor belt width assign and regulate the conveying speed of each longitudinal conveyor belt so that the respectively assigned width of the cross conveyor belt is filled with products by the respective longitudinal conveyor belt. By this assignment, each individual longitudinal conveyor belt in the capacity can be adjusted so that its assigned fraction of the cross conveyor belt width is fully utilized. This makes it possible to provide longitudinal conveyor belts, which are to be emptied in a particularly fast manner, with a large fraction of the cross conveyor belt width and thus preferably to collect and to provide longitudinal conveyor belts, which are to be collected over a longer period of time, with only a small fraction of the cross conveyor bandwidth to effect a correspondingly slow collection.

In particular, it is preferred if each longitudinal conveyor pre-stores a certain number of products and the control device is coupled with sensors for detecting the still stored on each longitudinal conveyor products and trained to assign a longitudinal conveyor belt with a few products a smaller fraction of the cross conveyor belt width than a longitudinal conveyor belt more products to achieve a simultaneous or delayed completion of the emptying of all longitudinal conveyor belts. This development of the invention achieves that in addition to the possible with the conveyor assembly according to the invention full capacity utilization of the processing station from the beginning of the conveying process and a full utilization of the processing station is achieved until the end of the conveying process. The sensors for detecting the products still stored on each longitudinal conveyor belt can thereby consist of a simple socket of weighing sensors which detect the conveyor belt progress of the longitudinal conveyor belt. An improved detection is achieved by additional determination of the product density on the longitudinal conveyor belt, for example by product counting at the output. In particular, when weight force sensors of the above-described kind are installed, it is possible to deduce from the measured weights the total eggs lying on the longitudinal conveyor belt.

A typical problem with conveyor arrangements of the prior art is that the longitudinal conveyor belts have different amounts of products and thereby longitudinal conveyor belts, which have held more products than others, after the completion of the conveying process of all other longitudinal conveyor belts still have to run and thereby a small amount of products is fed to the cross conveyor belt from the individual nachfördernden longitudinal conveyor belt and from this amount, the processing station over a longer period can not be utilized in its full capacity. This causes time-consuming reworking at the processing station. With the development of the invention, it is possible to assign such a longitudinal conveyor belts a large fraction of the cross conveyor belt width and thereby empty the longitudinal conveyor belts with a larger number of products as fast as the other longitudinal conveyor belts. The control device according to the invention in this case allows dynamic control of the respectively assigned cross conveyor belt widths, i. as soon as a full cross conveyor belt width is assigned to a fully filled longitudinal conveyor belt, the transverse conveyor belt width of the other longitudinal conveyor belts is dynamically reduced to the extent that in the sum of the one longitudinal conveyor belt slipped share is obtained. The aim of the scheme modified in this way is to operate the processing station at full capacity until the end of the processing and to avoid a run-down of the processing station for isolated post-conveyed products at low capacity utilization. For this purpose, it will typically be necessary to stagger the longitudinal conveyor belts, since the longitudinal conveyor belts closest to the processing station must be stopped last and the farthest longitudinal conveyor belt must first be stopped to achieve the desired abrupt termination of product accumulation on the cross conveyor belt ,

It is particularly preferred if the control device is coupled and designed with a force sensor arranged on the outlet region of the transverse force conveyor belt or a toe sensor of the type described above, in order to regulate the conveying speed of the transverse conveyor belt as a function of the sensor signal.

The implementation of such a force sensor allows, in particular in connection with the conveyor arrangement according to the invention with control device reliable and comfortable control, since the effected by means of the force sensor variation of the conveying speed of the cross conveyor belt flows into the control in the form of the Querförderbandfortschritts and thus can be considered. In other words, it is possible for the first time with the conveyor arrangement according to the invention to achieve full utilization of the processing station at each time of the delivery process and to avoid frequent starts and stops of the cross conveyor by a continuous control of the cross conveyor belt and at the same time anytime and anywhere the cross conveyor belt is completely filled with the width of the cross conveyor belt with products from the longitudinal conveyor belts.

Finally, the conveyor arrangement according to the invention can be further developed by a display device, which is coupled to the control device to receive from the control device signals for the spatially resolved representation of the number of products on the cross conveyor. The display device provided in this way allows a user of the conveyor assembly to recognize the utilization of the individual conveyor belt strands and the processing station at a glance and - if necessary - to change and optimize the control operations by parameter selection.

The conveyor assembly may comprise: a cross conveyor and a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts opening onto the cross conveyor with at least one movable product guide disposed above the cross conveyor and coupled to an actuator, wherein the actuator can move the product guide into at least two positions in the support area of the cross conveyor and the product guide device is placed laterally on the cross conveyor belt in such a way that it diverts the products on the cross conveyor belt from the junction area of at least one longitudinal conveyor belt. With this conveyor arrangement, it is possible to avoid damage due to collision already on the cross conveyor belt befindlicher products with hinzutretenden from the longitudinal conveyor products. The actuator can be electrically, pneumatically, hydraulically or otherwise operated. The product guide device may be a pivotally mounted plate.

It is particularly preferred if a plurality of movable product guide devices, which are each arranged in the conveying direction of the cross conveyor belt in front of the junction areas of a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts, are provided. With this training, a variable product line depending on the state of conveyance and the activated longitudinal conveyor belts is possible.

Furthermore, it is preferred if the actuator of each product guiding device is coupled to a control device and is actuated depending on the products conveyed by the control device and transverse belt progress calculated filling level of the cross conveyor belt in front of the respective Produktleitvorrichtung to the products so far away from the junction region of the longitudinal conveyor belts, such as it allows the degree of filling. Thus, it can be avoided that the products are laterally pushed away or damaged by the cross conveyor belt. The product guide can be adjusted to achieve the maximum possible deflection, or only a fraction of it, such as a deflection that is just sufficient to provide space on the cross conveyor for the still-to-be-added products.

Furthermore, in the case of group collection, it is preferable if the actuator of each product guide device is actuated depending on the collected group. Thus, a pre-programmed actuator actuation can be made and set group-dependent when the respective group is collected.

The conveying arrangement according to the invention as described above is preferably designed for conveying eggs on a longitudinal conveyor belt on which a plurality of spaced-apart, stationary intermediate storage areas are arranged, which receive eggs placed in cages in nesting areas along the longitudinal strip. used.

The conveying arrangement according to the invention as described above can furthermore be used for conveying eggs on a cross conveyor belt, which is designed to convey eggs into a temporary storage area which is arranged in the conveying direction before a further processing plant, in particular a packaging installation.

1. a. Zwischenspeichern der in einem ersten Nestbereich eines Käfigs oder einem ersten Käfig gelegten Eier auf einem ersten Zwischenspeicherbereich eines stillstehenden Förderbands,
2. b. Messen der summierten Gewichtskraft der im ersten Zwischenspeicherbereich befindlichen Eier,
3. c. Weiterfördern des Längsförderbands um eine vorbestimmte Distanz, die so bemessen ist, dass ein nicht mit Eiern belegter Förderbandabschnitt als erster Zwischenspeicherbereich bereitgestellt wird,
4. d. Wiederholen der Schritte a bis c bis zu einem Zeitpunkt, zu dem ein Weiterfördern des Längsförderbands um die vorbestimmte Distanz einen durch einen benachbarten, zweiten Zwischenspeicherbereich eines Nestbereichs eines benachbarten zweiten Käfigs oder eines zweiten Käfigs bereits mit Eiern belegten Förderbandabschnitt als ersten Zwischenspeicherbereich bereitstellen würde, und
5. e. Weiterfördern des Förderbands bis die darauf abgelegten Eier vollständig auf ein zweites Förderband oder in einen Speicher übergeleitet worden sind.

The conveyor arrangement according to the invention is preferably operated with a method for conveying eggs in the area of a barn comprising several cage units, with the following steps:

1. a. Buffering the eggs laid in a first nest area of a cage or a first cage on a first buffer area of a stationary conveyor belt,
2. b. Measuring the summed weight of the eggs in the first staging area,
3. c. Further conveying the longitudinal conveyor belt by a predetermined distance, which is dimensioned so that a not occupied with eggs conveyor belt section is provided as a first temporary storage area,
4. d. Repeating steps a to c until a time when advancing the longitudinal conveyor belt by the predetermined distance would provide a conveyor belt section already occupied by an adjacent second staging area of a nest area of an adjacent second cage or cage as the first staging area;
5. e. Continue conveying the conveyor belt until the eggs deposited thereon have been completely transferred to a second conveyor or in a memory.

• a. Fördern der Eier auf einer ersten Fördervorrichtung in einen Zwischenspeicherbereich
• b1. Messen der auf einen seitlichen Begrenzungswandabschnitt des Zwischenspeicherbereichs durch die Eier ausgeübten summierten Druckkraft, oder
• b2 Messen der im Zwischenspeicherbereich befindlichen aufgestellten Eier,
• c. Weiterfördern der Eier aus dem Zwischenspeicherbereich mittels einer zweiten Fördervorrichtung,
• d. Regeln der Fördergeschwindigkeit der ersten oder zweiten Fördervorrichtung in Abhängigkeit der gemessenen Druckkraft bzw. der gemessenen Anzahl der aufgestellten Eier.

Furthermore, it is preferred if the conveying arrangement described above is operated with a method for conveying eggs, with the steps:

• a. Conveying the eggs on a first conveyor to a staging area
• b1. Measuring the cumulative compressive force exerted on a lateral boundary wall portion of the staging area by the eggs, or
• b2 measuring the eggs in the storage area,
• c. Further conveying the eggs from the intermediate storage area by means of a second conveying device,
• d. Controlling the conveying speed of the first or second conveying device as a function of the measured pressing force or the measured number of eggs set up.

According to a further aspect, the conveying arrangement according to the invention can be operated with a method comprising the steps of conveying products on a cross conveyor to a processing station, and feeding products by means of a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts to the conveyor at different spaced locations, the conveying progress of the conveyor Querförderbands is detected and set at the beginning of the conveying process, the longitudinal conveyor belts in response to the distance between their junction on the cross conveyor belt and the processing station and in dependence on the progress of the conveyor cross conveyor belt delayed.

It is preferred that the first longitudinal conveyor belt farthest from the processing station is first actuated and a second conveyor belt located closer to the processing station is activated at a time when the cross conveyor belt has progressed so far that the products conveyed by the first longitudinal conveyor belt have reached the junction area of the second longitudinal conveyor belt.

It is preferred if, prior to the start of the conveying process, at least two groups of longitudinal conveyor belts are defined and first the longitudinal conveyor belts of a first group are activated and subsequently the longitudinal conveyor belts of a second group are activated.

It is preferred if in each group first the longitudinal conveyor belt farthest from the processing station is activated.

It is preferred that the longitudinal conveyor belts of the group with the longitudinal conveyor conveyor furthest from the processing station are activated as the last group.

It is preferable that the timing of stopping the last longitudinal conveyor of one group and the activation of the first longitudinal conveyor of a subsequent group is determined depending on the distance between the junction of the last longitudinal conveyor and the first longitudinal conveyor on the cross conveyor and the cross conveyor progress.

It is preferable that the longitudinal conveyor belts and the cross conveyor belt are stopped when the last product of a group has been conveyed into the processing apparatus.

It is preferred if the last products of the last longitudinal conveyor belt of the first group and the first products of the first longitudinal conveyor belt of the second group are deposited in a common mixing area on the cross conveyor belt.

It is preferred if a space is formed on the cross conveyor belt between the products of the first group of longitudinal conveyor belts and the products of the second group of longitudinal conveyor belts.

It is preferred if so many longitudinal conveyor belts are activated and / or the conveying speed of the activated longitudinal conveyor belts is controlled in such a way that so many products are fed to each area of the cross conveyor belt that a predetermined capacity of the processing station is achieved.

It is preferred if each activated longitudinal conveyor belt is assigned a fraction of the transverse conveyor belt webs and the conveying speed of each longitudinal conveyor belt is regulated so that the respectively assigned width of the transverse conveyor belt is filled with products by the respective longitudinal conveyor belt.

It is preferred if each longitudinal conveyor pre-stores a certain number of products and sensors detect the products still stored on each longitudinal conveyor and allocates a smaller fraction of the cross conveyor bandwidth to a longitudinal conveyor with few products than a longitudinal conveyor with more products to provide a simultaneous or to achieve a certain amount of time-delayed termination of the emptying of all longitudinal conveyor belts.

It is preferred if a force sensor arranged at the outlet region of the transverse conveyor belt measures the pressure force prevailing horizontally between the products in the outlet region and the conveying speed of the transverse conveyor belt is regulated as a function of the force sensor signal.

It is preferable that the conveying speed of the cross conveyor is reduced when the measured pressing force exceeds a predetermined value.

It is preferred if the conveying speed of the cross conveyor belt is increased when the measured pressure force falls below a predetermined value.

It is preferred if the conveying speed of the longitudinal conveyor belts and / or the cross conveyor belt is changed continuously.

It is preferable that a processing start timing is inputted and the activation and conveying speed of the longitudinal conveyor belts and the cross conveyor belt are started at a timing determined by the distance between longitudinal conveyor belt entrance to the cross conveyor belt and cross conveyor belt advance to supply products to the processing station at a predetermined capacity at the start time of the processing station ,

The invention may further be implemented in a computer program product for running on a computer programmed to perform the steps required to control the conveyor assembly of the invention as it runs on a computer.

Fig. 1:

Eine schematische Darstellung einer Förderanordnung mit sechs Stallgebäuden und Längsförderbändern und einem Querförderband,

Fig. 1 a

Eine vergrößerte Ansicht eines einzelnen Stallgebäudes aus Fig. 1

Fig. 2:

Eine schematische Draufsicht auf den Bereich einer Stallreihe mit nebeneinander angeordneten Volieren,

Fig. 3:

Eine quergeschnittene Seitenansicht des Bereichs des Längsförderbands und Ausrollbereichs aus einem Nest einer Voliere,

Fig. 4a:

Eine erste Ausführungsform des Einlaufsbereichs eines Querförderbandes in einen Packer mit Kraftaufnahmevorrichtung,

Fig. 4b:

Eine zweite Ausführungsform gem. Fig. 4a,

Fig. 4c:

Eine dritte Ausführungsform gem. Fig. 4a,

Fig. 5:

Eine Seitenansicht einer Variante der Ausführungsformen gem. Fig. 4b und 4c,

Fig. 6:

Eine Draufsicht auf eine vierte Ausführungsform gem. Fig. 4a mit Querbandförderbandregelung,

Fig. 7:

Eine schematische Darstellung einer Visualisierung des Förderfortschritts eines Querförderbands in einer Startphase des Fördervorgangs,

Fig. 8:

Einen Ausschnitt aus Fig. 7 zu einem Zeitpunkt der Beendigung des Fördervorgangs,

Fig. 9:

Eine schematische Darstellung einer weiteren Ausführungsform der erfindungsgemäßen Förderanordnung mit zwei Querförderbändern,

Fig. 10:

Eine schematische Darstellung der Visualisierung des Förderbandfortschritts der Anordnung gem. Fig. 9, und

Fig. 11:

Eine schematische Draufsicht auf einen Ausschnitt eines Querförderband mit fünf einmündenden Längsförderbändern und vier steuerbaren Produktleiteinrichtungen.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the figures. Show it:

Fig. 1:

A schematic representation of a conveyor arrangement with six stable buildings and longitudinal conveyor belts and a cross conveyor belt,

Fig. 1 a

An enlarged view of a single barn building Fig. 1

Fig. 2:

A schematic plan view of the area of a row of stables with aviaries arranged side by side,

3:

A cross-sectional side view of the area of the longitudinal conveyor belt and Ausrollbereichs from a nest of an aviary,

Fig. 4a:

A first embodiment of the inlet region of a cross conveyor belt in a packer with force receiving device,

Fig. 4b:

A second embodiment acc. Fig. 4a .

4c:

A third embodiment acc. Fig. 4a .

Fig. 5:

A side view of a variant of the embodiments acc. Fig. 4b and 4c .

Fig. 6:

A plan view of a fourth embodiment. Fig. 4a with transverse belt conveyor control,

Fig. 7:

A schematic representation of a visualization of the conveying progress of a transverse conveyor belt in a starting phase of the conveying process,

Fig. 8:

A section from Fig. 7 at the time of termination of the production process,

Fig. 9:

A schematic representation of a further embodiment of the conveyor arrangement according to the invention with two transverse conveyor belts,

Fig. 10:

A schematic representation of the visualization of the conveyor belt progress of the arrangement acc. Fig. 9 , and

Fig. 11:

A schematic plan view of a section of a cross conveyor belt with five opening longitudinal conveyor belts and four controllable product guide devices.

Fig. 1 shows an egg farm with six stable buildings 1-6, in each of which four double rows 1 ad arranged with several floors in a row tiered aviaries.

The barn buildings 1-6 are arranged side by side so that a cross conveyor belt 10 can pass straight through at the front of the stable building. The cross conveyor belt 10 is aligned at right angles to the aviary rows 1a-d in the area of the stable building.

As in particular in Fig. 1a clearly visible, each longitudinal conveyor belts 11a-d and 12a-d arranged on each side of the aviary rows 1a-d parallel to each other. Each floor of the aviary rows has its own longitudinal conveyor belts, so that for the five floors of the aviary rows gem. Fig. 1, 1a a total of 10 longitudinal conveyor belts per aviary row and 40 longitudinal conveyor belts per stable building result. The longitudinal conveyor belts of the individual aviary rows open alternatively in an elevator at the front of each aviary row, which raises the eggs from the 10 longitudinal conveyor belts of a row of aviaries on the cross conveyor belt or the cross conveyor belt 10 is moved in height and the five floors of the aviary rows are collected in chronological succession.

The cross conveyor 10 promotes in the Figures 1, 1a from right to left and flows into a packing station 20, in which the eggs are packed.

A central control unit 30 is connected to peripheral control and regulation units in each stable building and carries out the control and regulating operations according to the invention of the longitudinal conveyor belts and of the transverse conveyor belt 10.

A central farm control 40 allows selection of parameters, visualization of the egg collection process and utilization of the individual conveyor belts.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of a section of a double aviary row with four aviaries and left and right adjoining, partially represented further each two aviaries. A single aviary extends over a length L1 of the Longitudinal conveyor belts 11a, 12a. A fraction L2 of length L1 is occupied by a nest area in the aviary. In the area of length L2 more than 90% of the eggs are laid by the hens of the aviary, so that the conveyor belt in the area L2 is filled up at rest in a short time during the laying period.

Two nesting areas of adjacent aviaries border directly on each other, as in Fig. 2 recognizable. The longitudinal conveyor belts 11a, 12a must therefore, when the longitudinal conveyor belt is filled with eggs in the area of the nest, be pulled forward at least twice the length L2 in order to bring a vacant conveyor belt portion into the nest area. Since L2 in the present example is a quarter of L1, this preferential operation of the longitudinal conveyor belt 11a, 12a can be done three times. The fourth time, the padded area of the longitudinal conveyor belt 11a, 12a would be conveyed out of the nest area 13 into the nest area 14. Since in this case the longitudinal conveyor belt is thus full, the longitudinal conveyor belt must be operated permanently after three advances by the length 2 × L2, until all eggs are conveyed from the longitudinal conveyor belt 11a, 12a to the cross conveyor belt 10.

Fig. 3 shows an arrangement of the force sensor according to the invention, which is designed to control the feed of the longitudinal conveyor belts as a function of eggs rolled in the nest area on the longitudinal conveyor belt. The eggs roll on an inclined plane 15 from the nest area to the longitudinal conveyor belt 11a. The upper run of the longitudinal conveyor belt 11a extends above a weighing pan 16, which is coupled by means of two L-shaped profiles 17a, b with a force sensor. The force sensor 18 is connected by means of a U-profile 19 fixed to the frame of the aviaries. The force sensor 18 determines the weight of the eggs arranged in the temporary storage area 16 'on the conveyor belt 11a above the weighing pan 16.

The force sensor 18 may be configured as a pressure sensor, but it is preferably designed as a cantilever beam sensor acting on one side, which represents a robust and at the same time reliable embodiment.

The course of the conveying process of the arrangement acc. Fig. 3 is as follows. The eggs roll on the inclined plane 15 to a stop wire outside the aviary frame (not shown). The stop wire brakes the eggs and thus prevents collision of these eggs with already lying on the conveyor belt eggs and is cyclically raised to let the eggs at low speed on the conveyor belt. The more eggs lie on the conveyor belt in the area above the weighing pan 16, the more weight is detected by the force sensor 18. Upon reaching a certain limit, which, based on an average egg weight, results in a complete filling of the longitudinal conveyor belt in the area of the nest, the longitudinal conveyor belt is advanced by twice the length of the nest, thereby bringing an empty longitudinal conveyor belt area into the nest area. This is repeated three times and, on the fourth occasion, complete collection of the eggs from the longitudinal conveyor by operating the longitudinal conveyor until it has passed at least one full conveyor length extension (ie half the length of the conveyor) and all the eggs on the cross conveyor 10 have been promoted.

Fig. 4a shows another embodiment of a force sensor in the inlet region of a packing station. The eggs are brought by one or more Querförderbändem about a funnel table 10 'to the packing station and merged on the hopper table by Wandleitelementen 21 to the width of the packing station 20. This results in a compaction of the egg distribution in a buffer storage area 21 'between the two Wandleitelementen 21. In the inlet area of the packing station, the eggs in guide channels 22a, b, ... are introduced. In these areas, congestion may occur due to trailing eggs, which may lead to further densification of egg distribution. This compression allows the horizontal pressure between the eggs in the inlet area in front of the packing station to become so high that hairline cracks develop in the egg shells or eggs are completely destroyed.

In order to detect such a situation even before the occurrence of damage, two pressure sensors 23a, b are arranged laterally in the inlet region, which with two semicircular pressure receiving plates 24a, b are coupled. The pressure-receiving plates 24, b protrude into the egg flow and take on a superimposed, horizontally acting force component transverse to the conveying direction and against the conveying direction. Depending on the magnitude of the force detected by the force sensors 23a, b, the conveying speed of the transverse conveyor belt 10 is regulated. If the measured force increases, the cross conveyor speed is reduced, the force drops, the cross conveyor speed is increased.

Fig. 4b shows an alternative to the arrangement acc. Fig. 4a , In the arrangement acc. Fig. 4b is dispensed to the force sensors 23a, b and instead of light barriers 25a, b used, which lead across the inlet region of the packing station 20. The light barriers are aligned so that they pass over the eggs lying flat on the bottom surface of the packing station, as in Fig. 5 to recognize. As soon as an egg comes up or eggs come to lie one above the other, they break through the light barrier 25a, b. The number of such detected eggs is a measure of the horizontal pressure between the eggs in the inlet region and in turn, as described above, serve to regulate the transverse belt conveyor speed.

Fig. 4c shows a further variant of the embodiment with photocells gem. Fig. 4b , In Fig. 4c a total of four light barrier elements 26a-d are arranged, which monitor the inlet area of the packing station 20 area and thus ensure a more precise detection of eggs arranged or stacked.

Fig. 6 shows a variant of the embodiment acc. Fig. 4a with force sensors. The cross conveyor 110 conveys the eggs via a hopper table 110 'into a reaction zone 122 in front of a packing station 120. Sidewall elements 121a, b feed the eggs and compress the egg distribution. On the side wall elements 121a, b, in each case a pressure sensor 123a, b is arranged, which is coupled to a semicircular deflection and pressure absorption plate 124a, b. The pressure-receiving plate 124a, b is pivotally mounted in each case in a pivot bearing 125a, b arranged on the side facing the conveying direction In this way, it is possible to transmit a pressure force exerted by the eggs on the pressure transducer 123a, b.

Centrally in the reaction area 122, two further pressure sensors 123c, d are placed as an island arrangement, which in turn are mounted by means of two semi-circular pressure receiving plates 124c, d, which are pivotally mounted in a common pivot bearing 125c to receive the horizontal egg pressure in the central area. By using four pressure transducers at spaced-apart locations with different measuring direction ensures that local densities of the egg distribution with impermissibly high horizontal forces are detected and the cross belt conveyor speed can be controlled accordingly.

The pressure transducers 123a-d are connected to a central cross conveyor controller 126, which in turn is coupled to a frequency converter 127 which drives the transverse belt conveyor drive motor 128.

A timer 129 is also connected to the central control unit 126 and indicates the progress of the cross conveyor.

Fig. 7 shows an example of a visualization of the utilization and the progress of the cross conveyor. The cross conveyor 210 is divided into a plurality of transverse strips, one of which represents a cross conveyor length of 1m.

Six longitudinal conveyor belts 211a-f open at spaced locations on the transverse conveyor belt 210 along the transverse conveyor belt. The longitudinal conveyor belts are represented by box symbols 211a-f in which parameters for the conveying characteristics of the longitudinal conveyor belt are depicted.

At the left end, the cross conveyor 210 opens into a packing station 220.

Fig. 7 FIG. 12 shows a conveyor arrangement state in which collection from the longitudinal conveyor 211 has been started a short time ago. This is indicated by black bars in the cross conveyor areas in the conveying direction behind the Entrance of the longitudinal conveyor belt 211f shown. The black bar area 212 symbolizes the eggs deposited on the cross conveyor belt. Furthermore, a hatched rectangle region in the mouth region of the longitudinal conveyor belt 211f symbolizes the cross conveyor belt width assigned to the longitudinal conveyor belt 211f.

Fig. 8 shows the arrangement acc. Fig. 7 at a later stage of the funding process. The cross conveyor picks up 213 eggs in a cross conveyor belt capacity of 80% in a padded area at a set point, which maintains a safe distance from full capacity. In a region 214, the leakage of the collection of the first group of eggs can be recognized, which can be recognized by a diagonally decreasing utilization of the cross conveyor belt width. In the conveying direction behind the first group follows a second group of eggs, which is applied by activation of the longitudinal conveyor belt 211e on the cross conveyor belt. Between the group 213,214 and the group 215 a gap 216 is left, which leaves a short period for a conversion of the packing station 220.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic plan view of a conveyor assembly with two Querförderbändem 310,312 and Fig. 10 shows a schematic representation of the visualization of this conveyor arrangement. As can be seen, a plurality of longitudinal conveyor belts 311a-e, 313a-e are disposed on each transverse conveyor belt 310,312, which open at spaced locations on the transverse conveyor belt 310 and 312, respectively. Each longitudinal conveyor 311a-e, 313a-e has its own decentralized control, which in accordance with a weighing sensor. Fig. 3 activates the longitudinal conveyor belt and causes a total emptying of the longitudinal conveyor belt to the corresponding cross conveyor belt on command of a higher-level central controller 330.

Both cross conveyor belts 310, 312 open into a packing station 320.

How out Fig. 10 As can be seen, the eggs collected on the cross conveyor are locally offset from four activated longitudinal conveyors 311c-f and become as a contiguous block in the capacity of the packing station 320 of the packing station 320 supplied. Only the longitudinal conveyor belts 313d-f are active on the transverse conveyor belt 312, and only after further progress of the transverse conveyor belt 312 are the further longitudinal conveyor belts 313a-c activated.

Fig. 11 shows a section of a cross conveyor belt 410 with several opening longitudinal conveyor belts 411a-e, the Einmündungsorte are spaced apart in the conveying direction of the cross conveyor belt 410. On the cross conveyor belt in the conveying direction F a variety of eggs are promoted, which are symbolized by circles on the cross conveyor belt.

As can be seen, the products arrive at the right edge seen in the cross conveyor direction in the illustrated section of the cross conveyor belt and would therefore hinder the supply of other eggs from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411a-e, as these initially with a considerable horizontal pressure already located on the cross conveyor belt eggs in the direction of seen in the conveying direction of the cross conveyor belt left edge should press. This can cause damage to the eggs.

In front of the longitudinal conveyor belt 411e located in the conveying direction of the transverse conveyor belt, there is arranged a haulage device 420a, which comprises a haulage plate 421a, which is pivotally mounted in a laterally and stationarily mounted pivot bearing 422a. The Eileitplatte 421 a can be pivoted by means of an actuator, which is in this case an electric linear actuator 423a with position feedback, in the area above the cross conveyor belt or swung out of this area.

In the same way and analogously arranged between the longitudinal conveyor belts 411 d and e, between the longitudinal conveyor belts 411 c and d and between the longitudinal conveyor belts 411 b and c are each an egg guide 420 b and d arranged, which are constructed in the same manner as the egg guide device 420 a.

In the illustrated state of conveyance, additional eggs from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411 a, b and d, e are conveyed to the eggs already on the cross conveyor belt. To damage in this state, the additional subsidized eggs or eggs already on the cross conveyor belt 2, the haulage device 420a is pivoted so far into the area above the transverse conveyor belt that the eggs are diverted from the right to the left edge, thereby creating space for the additionally added eggs from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411a, b, d, e. The fallopian tubes 420b and c are not swung out.

The fallopian tube device 420d is swung out by a smaller amount than the fallopian tube device 420a to divert the additional eggs added from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411d, e from the right edge of the transverse conveyor belt and thus to make room for the eggs coming from the longitudinal conveyor belts 411a, b without breaking the eggs To direct the entire egg flow of the cross conveyor too far in the direction of the left edge of the cross conveyor, so that damage to the already located on the cross conveyor belt eggs would be caused.

The electric linear actuators 423a-d and the position feedback units of these drives of the oviplying devices 420a-d are coupled to the central control device and are actuated and extended as far as the number of eggs already on the cross conveyor and the arrangement and optionally conveying rate of the additionally conveying longitudinal conveyor belts. that neither damage to the derived eggs nor damage to the eggs that follow can occur.

A preferred delivery method works as follows:

At about three hours after the beginning of the laying, the longitudinal conveyor 311f farthest from the packing station is activated and conveys the eggs to the cross conveyor 310. The cross conveyor 310 is also activated and feeds the eggs towards the packing station. As soon as the eggs brought onto the transverse conveyor by the longitudinal conveyor 311f reach the mouth of the longitudinal conveyor 311e, the longitudinal conveyor 311e is also activated and conveys eggs to the transverse conveyor 310. In this way, the eggs of the two longitudinal conveyors 311e, f add up to an accumulated one cross conveyor belt width. Once this area the junction of the longitudinal conveyor belt 311d reached, this longitudinal conveyor belt is activated and so on until the activation of the longitudinal conveyor belt 311a. In this way, a utilization is achieved in full width of the cross conveyor and at the beginning of work of the packer at the packing station 320, the cross conveyor is fully filled and is just before the packing station 320.

The eggs fed from each longitudinal conveyor belt are counted in the area of the mouth of the longitudinal conveyor belts in order to obtain control over the laying performance of the respective stable or rows of aviaries. Furthermore, this egg counting allows an accurate determination of the eggs located on the cross conveyor. As soon as it is recognized that a longitudinal conveyor belt contains a very large number of eggs, for example by counting a high number of eggs even at low longitudinal conveyor belt feed, this longitudinal conveyor belt is assigned a larger transverse conveyor belt width and the other longitudinal conveyor belts a correspondingly reduced width. This ensures that even the above-average filled longitudinal conveyor belt is emptied within a period of time by also emptying the other longitudinal conveyor belts. If necessary, this dynamic control can be further adjusted if other longitudinal conveyor belts appear to be late or prematurely emptied.

For the first time, the method enables automatic regulation and full utilization of the packing station as a function of the eggs supplied by the individual longitudinal conveyor belts and their individual distance from the packing station and the respective current cross conveyor belt progress.

Claims (14)

1. Conveyor arrangement for impact-sensitive products, in particular for eggs, comprising:

   - a conveyor system (11a, 12a; 10) for conveying the products,

   - a temporary storage area (16', 21') designed to accommodate products which need to be temporarily stored during discontinuous conveying in or out,

   - a control system for increasing the feed rate of products away from and/or reducing the feed rate of products into the temporary storage area of the conveyor system when a predefined critical number of products is exceeded in the temporary storage area,

   - a force measuring device (18, 23a,b) is provided which is disposed underneath the products in the temporary storage area (16') for taking measurements in the vertical direction and detecting the cumulative weight of the products in the temporary storage area and which is designed and disposed so as to detect a force exerted by products disposed in the temporary storage area serving as an indication of the number of products in the temporary storage area, and

   - the control system is configured to process the force detected by the force measuring device as an input variable and increase or reduce the feed rate of products away from and/or into the temporary storage area as a function of the force value,

   characterised in that several temporary storage areas are provided, spaced apart from one another along the conveyor belt, and the control system is configured so that when a predefined cumulative weight of the products in a temporary storage area is first exceeded, the conveyor belt is conveyed forwards by the length of the temporary storage, and when a predefined cumulative weight of the products in the temporary storage area is exceeded a subsequent time, the conveyor belt is conveyed forwards again by the length of the temporary storage, and this procedure is repeated if necessary up to a predefined number of repetitions at which a section of the conveyor belt filled with products would be conveyed to an adjacent temporary storage area and at which, instead, the conveyor belt is driven until the products have been conveyed by the conveyor belt onto a second conveyor system or into a storage area.
2. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in claim 1,
   characterised in that the control system is configured to activate the conveyor system at a first and a second conveying speed and the second speed is higher than the first speed.
3. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2,
   characterised in that the control system is configured to adjust the conveyor system steplessly as a function of the force detected by the force measuring device.
4. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
   characterised in that the control system is configured to increase the feed rate out of the temporary storage area when a predefined force value is exceeded.
5. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the force measuring device is coupled with a horizontally disposed weighing plate (16) disposed underneath a conveyor belt (11a) on which the products are disposed in the temporary storage area (16').
6. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in preceding claim 5 or 6,
   characterised in that the control system is configured to activate the conveyor system from a static state when a predefined cumulative weight of the products in the temporary storage area is exceeded so that the products are conveyed onwards until a11 the products have been conveyed away from the temporary storage area.
7. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in the preceding claim,
   characterised in that the conveyor system comprises a conveyor belt on which the temporary storage area extends by a specific length, and the control system is configured so that the conveyor belt is conveyed further by exactly the length of the temporary storage when a predefined cumulative weight of the products in the temporary storage area is exceeded.
8. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in one of the preceding claims,
   characterised in that several conveyor belts are provided, each with at least one temporary storage area, at least one temporary storage area has a force sensor for measuring the weight of the products in this temporary storage area and the control system is configured so that all the conveyor belts are conveyed further by the length of the temporary storage when a predefined cumulative weight of the products in this temporary storage area is exceeded.
9. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in the preceding claim,
   characterised in that several conveyor belts are provided, each with at least one temporary storage area, at least several temporary storage areas have a force sensor for measuring the weight of the products in this temporary storage area, and the control system is configured so that all of the conveyor belts are conveyed further by the length of the temporary storage area when the weight of the products in a temporary storage area with a force sensor or the mean value of the weight of the products in all the temporary storage areas with a force sensor exceeds a predefined weight of the products.
10. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in one of the preceding claims, comprising:

    - a transverse conveyor belt (10) which conveys products to a processing station, and

    - several longitudinal conveyor belts (11a-d, 12a-d) which are disposed so that they convey products to different locations on the transverse conveyor belt spaced at a distance apart from one another,

    characterised by a device (129) for detecting the conveying progress of the transverse conveyor belt and a regulating device (30) coupled with this device which is configured to set the longitudinal conveyor belts in motion with offset timing at the start of a conveying operation of the conveyor arrangement as a function of the distance between their entry points onto the transverse conveyor belt and processing station and as a function of the conveying progress of the transverse conveyor belt.
11. Conveyor arrangement as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that at least two groups of longitudinal conveyor belts are defined and the regulating device is configured to place the products of the longitudinal conveyor belts of a first group on the transverse conveyor belt before the products of the longitudinal conveyor belts of a second group.
12. Use of a conveyor arrangement, comprising:

    - a conveyor system (11a, 12a; 10) for conveying the products,

    - a temporary storage area (16' , 21') , which is designed to accommodate products which have to be temporarily stored during discontinuous conveying in or out,

    - a control system for increasing the feed rate of products away from and/or reducing the feed rate of products into the temporary storage area of the conveyor system when a predefined critical number of products in the temporary storage area is exceeded,
    and

    - a force measuring device (18; 23a,b) is provided, which is designed and disposed so as to detect a force exerted by products disposed in the temporary storage area serving as an indication of the number of products in the temporary storage area, and

    - the control system is configured to process the force detected by the force measuring device as an input variable and to increase or reduce the feed rate of the products away from and/or into the temporary storage area as a function of the force value, and the force measuring device (18) is disposed underneath the products in the temporary storage area (16') in order to take measurements in the vertical direction and detect the cumulative weight of the products in the temporary storage area,

    for conveying eggs on a longitudinal conveyor belt on which a plurality of stationary temporary storage areas are disposed at a distance apart from one another, disposed so that they accommodate eggs laid in cages in nesting areas disposed in a row along the longitudinal belt.
13. Method of conveying eggs in the region of a chicken run comprising several cage units, comprising the steps of:

    a. temporarily storing the eggs laid in a first nesting area of a cage or a first cage on a first temporary storage area of a stationary conveyor belt,

    b. measuring the cumulative weight of the eggs disposed in the first temporary storage area,

    c. feeding the longitudinal conveyor belt forwards by a predefined distance which is measured so that a conveyor belt portion not carrying eggs is placed in position as a first temporary storage area,

    d. repeating steps a to c up to a point at which feeding the longitudinal conveyor belt forwards by the predefined distance would place a conveyor belt portion already filled with eggs by an adjacent second temporary storage area of a nesting area of an adjacent second cage or a second cage in position as a first temporary storage area, and

    e. feeding the conveyor belt forwards until the eggs placed on it have been completely transferred onto a second conveyor belt or into a storage.
14. Method as claimed in claim 13, comprising the steps of:

    - conveying products on a transverse conveyor belt to a processing station, and

    - conveying products by means of several longitudinal conveyor belts to different locations on the transverse conveyor belt spaced at a distance apart from one another, characterised in that the conveying progress of the transverse conveyor belt is detected and at the start of the conveying operation the longitudinal conveyor belts are set in motion with offset timing as a function of the distance between their point of entry onto the transverse conveyor belt and processing station and as a function of the conveying progress of the transverse conveyor belt.

Images